Tom Breur
14 May 2013
Toyota takes
continuous improvement very seriously. Surprisingly, though, nobody ever seems
to be working on improvement. How can that be?
In martial
arts, the word “Kata” is used to describe a sequence of movements (a
choreographed pattern) that is practised repeatedly until it becomes ingrained.
Originally, they were teaching/training methods. Through endless repetition
they become internalized, and smooth as a reflex.
At Toyota, such
“improvement Kata” (Mike Rother, 2009) play a central role in training on the
job. But actually continuous improvement has become so naturally integrated
that training is your job. Team
leaders and managers are there to help you become more proficient. Hence, at
Toyota, managers are experts.
This is why
Toyota is so reluctant to bring in “outside” managers who lack these skills, because
they haven’t gone through this training themselves. Management’s responsibility
is to see to it that the Kata becomes your default mode of operating.
Results and
process should go hand in hand. Unless employees follow the process (the Kata),
improvement will not be sustainable: it does not become ingrained in the
organization. Progress becomes neither embedded in the people, nor the
organisation.
Conversely, if
you follow the process (improvement Kata), but don’t get results (improvement),
somewhere the feedback has been lost. Success, should show in the results. Unless
production goes up, the improvement Kata hasn’t (really) worked. At least not yet. Management has (more) work to do.
Interested in
acquiring these habits of success? Join us for our Hands-on Agile workshop:
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